Ashleigh's Edibles

Friday, August 7, 2009

I love the wonderful fruits of summer! Too bad I have a picky husband who doesn't enjoy snacking on fresh fruits. :) Since the fruit in our home tends to go bad before I can finish it myself, I decided to prepare a fruity dessert we both can enjoy.

And because my fruit was so pretty...they deserve their own spotlight photos ;)

Friday, July 3, 2009

One of the best things about summer is all the fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables. I can't take credit for growing this lovely zucchini (it was given to me by a co-worker), but I will take credit for the bread. :) Of course I will also give credit to my wonderful husband who used his muscles to shredded 5 cups of zucchini for me to use and freeze. :) Thanks, Sweetie!

My mother-in-law makes the best zucchini bread! She has shared her recipe with me and I recorded it in my "virtual recipe box". I tried all morning to access the internet site were I keep my recipes; however, the server was down. Disappointed, I decided to "wing it" based on memory and a banana bread recipe my mom gave me (obviously substituting zucchini for bananas with a few other changes).The result....delicious! :) I think my mother-in-law would be proud.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

I’ve been making this treat for years; however, I have become more “refined” in my assembly. In college, I use to make a bowl of the “filling” and throw some sliced strawberries on top! :) Delicious! It wasn’t until I was at a book store reading a cook book by Mary Berry (the name of the book escapes me) when I saw her recipe for filled strawberries. I thought “What a great idea to put the cream cheese inside!” This is such an easy, yet delicious summer treat. Since I prepared these for Chris and I to eat at home, I left out the step of covering them with chocolate (trying to look out for our health you know :) ). Besides enjoying these at home on a lazy Sunday, these could be served to guests at a picnic or elegant dinner party. They are best straight from the refrigerator (chocolate or no). You can play around with the amount of sugar to suit your taste. I prefer to use fresh lemon juice instead of vanilla if I have it on hand because it gives it a more cheesecake-like taste. I hope you enjoy!

Directions: Combine cream cheese, vanilla or lemon (which ever one you are using), and sugar. Mix to combine and refrigerate until ready to use. Carefully wash strawberries and pat dry with paper towels. Remove the stems from the berries.(*Follow directions for chocolate here if using)Using a small paring knife, core the center of each berry being careful to leave the bottom intact. Fill a plastic baggie with the cream cheese filling. Fill each berry with Line a small baking sheet with wax paper

*For chocolate coating: In a microwave-safe bowl, melt dipping chocolate at 30-second intervals until chocolate is smooth and creamy. Dip each strawberry into chocolate, covering 3/4 of the berry. Lay on baking sheet. Fill a second plastic baggie with chocolate and drizzle over the berries in a pretty design. Chill.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

It's one of those wonderful days off from work when the sun is shining and your agenda is WIDE open! Chris and I decided to enjoy some lunch on the grill! In addition to our spread of grilled chicken and spicy potato wedges, I decided to bring a new twist: grilled salted cinnamon sugar apples! This really isn't a recipe per se. My inspiration came from watching the Giada at Home episode "California BBQ". Here Giada made fried apple and onion rings. I decided to make a version for the grill!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Hello again! I haven’t posted in a while so this is long overdue. After returning from an AWESOME week of vacation with Chris and our families….I decided to help make my weekly staff meeting more enjoyable for myself and others  When I saw this week’s Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, a brownie layer topped with a chocolate-chip cookie layer, I knew this recipe was for me (and Chris).

I made one small change due to lack of availability of ingredient :) I have noted my substitution in parenthesis below. Also, make sure you watch your bake time due to varying oven temperatures. Mine were done in 46 minutes. The verdict…It definitely lived up to my expectations! Let’s hope these treats can make it to my meeting tomorrow!

Getting ReadyCenter a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line it with wax paper or parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Brownie Batter:Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture get too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolates. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the batter. Using the spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.

To Make the Cookie Dough:Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl or with the hand mixer in another large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minutes after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chopped chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep gold brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

When the brownies are completely cook, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn the right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches x 1 inch. (You can cut larger bars if you're serving cookie lovers with Texas-size appetites.)

Makes 24 servings.

Serving: Ice cream, whipped cream and creme fraiche are all great accompaniments, as is a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Storing: Wrapped well or packed in an airtight container, the bars can be kept at room temperature for 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Playing Around: The cookie top can be varied easily be swapping peanut butter, butterscotch or white chocolate chips for the chopped chocolate. You could even use all of them.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

I just finished saying to my husband “Why doesn’t the Food Network ever travel to OUR city or state for that matter! I have seen several episodes of shows like: Rachel Rays’ Tasty Travels, Road Tasted with the Neelys, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, etc. none of which are shot in Ohio. So I was super excited this week when I saw Bobby take on the founders of Sugardaddy's Sumptuous Sweeties in Columbus, Ohio. This Throwdown inspired my decision to bake a delicious pan of Blondies. I adapted Bobby’s recipe to fit what I had in my pantry at home. The result was DELICIOUS. The next time I am in Columbus I plan to visit Sugardaddy’s Sweeties.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish (decrease bake time for metal).Combine flour, baking powder, salt in bowl, whisk with fork and set asideMix melted butter and brown sugar until combined. Crack open eggs in a small bowl and whisk. Add eggs and vanilla to butter and brown sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in dry ingredients using a fork (use spatula on sides of bowl) until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into prepared pan , smoothing top with spatula.Bake 25-30 minutes. DO NOT over-bake. Mine took 26 minutes. Top will be golden brown and edges slightly darker. Cool to room temperature before cutting.

Monday, March 16, 2009

After searching several sites for a muffin recipe that contained carrots, but NOT coconut (I am not a fan of shredded coconut) I was able to find a few, but these had mixed reviews. I decided to “play it safe” and go with a recipe modified from one of my favorite foodie blogs- Annie’s Eats. If you have not visited Annie’s blog you should definitely check it out. However, a word of warning—do not visit while hungry! Annie makes some amazing looking dishes that are sure to jump start your appetite. :) Annie got this recipe for Carrot Spice Muffins from Dorie Greenspan of Tuesdays with Dorie. This was my other clue that I would not go wrong with the recipe. As I mentioned before, I changed the recipe quite a bit to suit our tastes and also increased the ingredients to yield 24 muffins. I omitted the shredded coconut and added a bit more brown and white sugar. I also decreased the amount of oil and added some chunky applesauce for flavor and texture.

Inspired by Annie’s Eats (Original Recipe Source: adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix both sugars with the eggs at medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes. Mix in the oil and the vanilla.

Stir the carrots, applesauce and raisins (if using) into the wet ingredients until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the pecans (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them almost to the top. Bake the muffins for 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pans and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner’s sugar after transferring to wire rack (when slightly cooled)